We've watched the first four episodes, and here are some (spoiler free!) thoughts.
Read the whole story
Read the whole story
Westworld season 3: I can show you the world (and then murder you)
- Thread starter JournalBot
- Start date
I loved season one, despite realizing there were two simultaneous timelines fairly early on. Season two fell a bit flat for me on the first watch, but I liked it much better on the second watch through. So far, what I've seen of season three has me cautiously optimistic all over again.
You're not alone, Lee. I can't wait to start watching it and dissecting the "high-concept pretentiousness" in the forums with other former English majors.
You're not alone, Lee. I can't wait to start watching it and dissecting the "high-concept pretentiousness" in the forums with other former English majors.
Upvote
20
(21
/
-1)
There are shows in which the first season feels so rounded that I don't have the urge to keep watching. It happened to me with Westworld, and also with Stranger Things. In the case of movies, if there were sequels for The Matrix I wouldn't want to watch them either.
Is this one of the cases where you can safely skip season 2 and watch season 3 directly?
Is this one of the cases where you can safely skip season 2 and watch season 3 directly?
Upvote
0
(7
/
-7)
I can’t speak to that, but I can say that if you don’t watch season 2 you are missing out. It was just as good if not better than season 1.
Upvote
4
(17
/
-13)
I'm in the same spot. I enjoyed season 1 but stopped watching the show after second episode season 2.
Is it true, is season 2 worth watching? Please vote up or down
Upvote
58
(63
/
-5)
Season 1 of West World was some of the best TV I've ever watched. Compared to that, season 2 was a travesty; not only was it 'not as good', but it stripped a lot of the subtly and meaning away from season 1. The plot of season 1 was a carefully crafted story. The plot of season 2 was a hog-podge of ideas through together in whatever way took the least effort.
The information in this article about season 3 doesn't sound bad, but given that it doesn't really address the flaws of the second season, I think I'll probably pass on the third.
The information in this article about season 3 doesn't sound bad, but given that it doesn't really address the flaws of the second season, I think I'll probably pass on the third.
Upvote
-1
(16
/
-17)
Seasons 1 and 2 had both highly convoluted plots by design. However, that is generally really difficult to pull off, and when it doesn't work it feels like there is no coherence to the story. I feel that happened to the second season. Nevertheless, I will be coming back for season 3, because when it works it is great.
#teamDolores
#teamDolores
Upvote
5
(5
/
0)
I'm in the same spot. I enjoyed season 1 but stopped watching the show after second episode season 2.
Is it true, is season 2 worth watching? Please vote up or down
Ho-hum. I watched season 2 and I can say that if you like the general mood of Westworld - "sci-fi cowboys & cowgirls in a non-linear time" - then you might enjoy it. I actually did.
But they are trying to do the same "mind twister" with non-linear story telling (which does get some kind of satisfactory explanation in the end, IMHO) which everyone expected already (so I consider this as a non-spoiler information
), but there is no such "surprise, surprise!" moment like in season 1. And as others have already mentioned it doesn't work as good (or "again") as in season 1.And it does have the "same same, but different" feeling, which wears off a bit.
But again, if you liked season 1 and want to "prepare" for season 3, go watch it!
Upvote
7
(7
/
0)
IMO you'd be doing yourself a disservice, and you'd also probably be...very confused about a lot of things that are happening and a lot of events being referenced.
Upvote
29
(29
/
0)
Dude, it's a few hours of your life. Seriously. What are you going to do otherwise? Watch Breaking Bad again?
Regardless, I sincerely hope you are able to survive this struggle and are able to come through the other side whichever path you choose.
Good luck. Godspeed. Courage.
Upvote
16
(19
/
-3)
The lack of people could be down to a Gibsonian Jackpot having wiped out most of humanity.
Upvote
3
(3
/
0)
Goes to show just how ahead of its time the original movie with Yul Brynner/James Brolin really was.
Upvote
12
(12
/
0)
At least going by the Incite teaser, that doesn't seem to be the case. There's definitely been some major world-changing events, including the nuclear destruction of Paris in 2025, but humanity as a whole seems to be thriving.
Upvote
2
(2
/
0)
That "Office Park of the Future" is actually a built work by Santiago Calatrava. It's the Valencia Opera House.
Upvote
17
(17
/
0)
I just hope we don’t get to the end of S4 or5 and HBO pulls a “Lost” - this has been too much fun for a lousy trick like that again.
Actually thinking of “St. Elsewhere” and a pullback from a climatic scene to reveal we’re inside of the left eye of Delores, on a lab table, and she’s the prototype of the first Hosts.
JUST DON’T DO IT.
Actually thinking of “St. Elsewhere” and a pullback from a climatic scene to reveal we’re inside of the left eye of Delores, on a lab table, and she’s the prototype of the first Hosts.
JUST DON’T DO IT.
Upvote
6
(6
/
0)
Upvote
2
(2
/
0)
I found S1 to be epic all around and playing with multiple timelines was used to great dramatic effect in the finale.
S2 had a few stellar episodes but it felt like the writers said "Hey! mucking with the timeline worked really well last season...lets do it again! Oh sh*t...they'll be expecting it...I guess we'll just have to jump around a LOT to keep them guessing."
I am hoping for more in S3.
S2 had a few stellar episodes but it felt like the writers said "Hey! mucking with the timeline worked really well last season...lets do it again! Oh sh*t...they'll be expecting it...I guess we'll just have to jump around a LOT to keep them guessing."
I am hoping for more in S3.
Upvote
3
(6
/
-3)
I figured that was the reason for the description, though I haven't seen this season yet. I just thought I would share something I happened to know, in case someone else was interested. Some people can identify cars, I do buildings.
Calatrava does some really high-level work, but has a penchant for going over budget (2x in the case of the Oculus), overrunning schedules, and structural deficiencies (Valencia).
Upvote
8
(8
/
0)
I appreciate you sharing! Now I can drop that bit of trivia in the episode write-up where we first visit that location and seem a lot smarter than I actually am
Upvote
12
(12
/
0)
For anyone who lost faith early in Season 2, the beginning is very uneven. Fortunately, by episode 4 it's at least as good as if not better than season 1. Also, the later half of the season contains an episode Kiksuya that may just be one of the top ten episodes of any show to ever air on TV. Breaking Bad, Sopranos, Better Call Saul, classic GoT level good, I mean.
Please please for the love of god watch season 2. Uneven though it may be it contains the shows best moments so far, and the plot expands the story three times as much as the first, which honestly I think is where people started disliking it, as the first season felt very insular and season 2 very open.
There's no way to understand season 3 without it, presumably.
Please please for the love of god watch season 2. Uneven though it may be it contains the shows best moments so far, and the plot expands the story three times as much as the first, which honestly I think is where people started disliking it, as the first season felt very insular and season 2 very open.
There's no way to understand season 3 without it, presumably.
Upvote
7
(11
/
-4)
Yeah, as noted above, jumping into S3 without watching S2 would leave you with a lot of questions. It'd be a lot like watching RoTJ without watching ESB first. "Who's this old guy Vader is talking to? What the hell happened to Han Solo? When did Luke become a Jedi? Who the fuck is this little green dude?"
Upvote
21
(23
/
-2)
Really liked S1 and enjoyed the show asking so much of the viewer. Tapped out after a few episodes of S2; just felt disjointed.
Like someone else said, kind of felt like S1 was good enough to just stop there. But that’s not how TV works so....
[edit] Mostly because watching S2 murderbot Delores was as interesting as watching paint dry.
Like someone else said, kind of felt like S1 was good enough to just stop there. But that’s not how TV works so....
[edit] Mostly because watching S2 murderbot Delores was as interesting as watching paint dry.
Upvote
4
(5
/
-1)
Did they finally give Dolores some depth of character? For as good as the writing on the show usually is, holy crap was she shallow and boring in season 2. That she was do one dimensional and such a big focus made it a slog to get through sometimes.
Upvote
4
(4
/
0)
I liked S1 because it generally felt more "complete". Like you could just watch it and enjoy it for what it was.
Where with Season 2 it didn't. Like they knew they were getting another season and purposefully left A LOT of unanswered questions and plot threads just dangling out there. Also they overplayed the timeline stuff a bit much not for the sake of the story like in S1 but just to yank viewers around and keep them guessing.
Basically I liked S2 when it was straight forward and not trying to be cute.
Where with Season 2 it didn't. Like they knew they were getting another season and purposefully left A LOT of unanswered questions and plot threads just dangling out there. Also they overplayed the timeline stuff a bit much not for the sake of the story like in S1 but just to yank viewers around and keep them guessing.
Basically I liked S2 when it was straight forward and not trying to be cute.
Upvote
6
(6
/
0)
Season 2 was pretty slow. They clearly had one main idea, and it felt like they couldn't come up with enough content to fill each episode and ended up with a lot of filler, like showing the same flashbacks over and over. Probably not as bad if you're just going to binge it though!
Upvote
4
(4
/
0)
I don't mind some complicated story telling, but IMHO this show has taken it waaaaaay too far.
Upvote
5
(5
/
0)
Like I said in my other post S2 felt like they were making the story more complicated in some ways not to actually improve upon aspects of the show in any meaningful way...but just to be difficult and "cute". It is complicated in good ways like the early seasons of GOT but you don't need that time shifting crap and I really hope they drop that shit in S3.
Upvote
5
(6
/
-1)
I think, if I can be forgiven some speculation...
...that the thing they were going for with S2's timey-wimey-ness was to try to give some idea to the audience of what exactly Bernard was going through with his de-addressed memories. I do appreciate that they were up-front about it and it was very clear within just a few minutes of the start of S2E1 that they were going to be playing more time-games, and overall I enjoyed the hell out of S2.
But even having watched the thing as much as I've watched it (and I've probably watched every S2 ep at least ten times at this point in the run-up to S3), there are still a few moments when I have to stop and try to figure out when something happened and if we're in the "pre-door" time period, or the "post-doot" time period (or, if you like, the Coughlin time period or the Karl Strand time period). Even being able to cue off of Bernard's glasses (on for the former, off for the latter), I still find it difficult to hold a complete picture of everything in my head.
I think they could have perhaps done a little bit better job keeping things straight for the audience, but all the pieces are there if you look for them. They're just not easy to integrate into a whole. Rather like Bernard's memories.
But even having watched the thing as much as I've watched it (and I've probably watched every S2 ep at least ten times at this point in the run-up to S3), there are still a few moments when I have to stop and try to figure out when something happened and if we're in the "pre-door" time period, or the "post-doot" time period (or, if you like, the Coughlin time period or the Karl Strand time period). Even being able to cue off of Bernard's glasses (on for the former, off for the latter), I still find it difficult to hold a complete picture of everything in my head.
I think they could have perhaps done a little bit better job keeping things straight for the audience, but all the pieces are there if you look for them. They're just not easy to integrate into a whole. Rather like Bernard's memories.
Upvote
2
(3
/
-1)
Excited for Season 3 to start. Season 1 was better, in my opinion, asking viewers to consider far more philosophical questions such as the nature of consciousness, free will vs. "programming" (digital or biological), can creations distinguish themselves from their creators or are they forever bound by them, etc.
I hope Season 3 channels more of Season 1: tighter plot with fewer holes so that you spend more time pondering these questions and less time saying "umm, that seems dumb".
Edit: hiding Season 2 info
Season 2 had more gaps that felt either poorly written or unexplained (e.g. incompetent Delos guards being overrun by pistol toting bandits) but also had a few moments of solid emotion. Seeing the "trial version" of James Delos realize what he was during one of the tests felt pretty tragic and compelling.
I hope Season 3 channels more of Season 1: tighter plot with fewer holes so that you spend more time pondering these questions and less time saying "umm, that seems dumb".
Edit: hiding Season 2 info
Upvote
3
(3
/
0)
Season 2 had an excessively complicated structure. A lot of people thought that instead of watching the show and being entertained they were faced with having to work and claw to get out of some type of mental trap dilemma and stopped watching after a few episodes. Season 2 ratings suffered and viewers started deserting the show. By the time the Season 2 finale arrived it was down 24 % of its viewers compared to the premier of Season 2. In TV shows, even streamed ones, a loss of 24% of viewers in a single season and unstable ratings sets off all sorts of alarms and the word "cancel" starts being mentioned.
After the Season 2 finale HBO stopped 'Westworld' stuff cold to reconsider, the lower ratings compared to season 1 and that 24% drop concerned them. Normally, a show that has such a poor showing for a season but has a little more promise left would be either kicked in the butt to get it moving again (which results in, e.g. recasting-added cast, changing writers etc...) or cancelled. HBO was on the fence with this one because it had so much potential but it was too expensive to kick in the butt and make major changes. If it continued on the excessively complicated structure path that 24% and lower ratings from Season 2 could turn into 80% and almost no ratings real fast and the show would be dropped. If they kicked it in the butt it means a lot of major changes, a lot of expensive major changes, and it would take longer for Season 3 to appear and in that interim a lot of viewers would have moved on and would not come back. But, the show has a lot of promise too and its possible that 24% and ratings loss could be re-captured. So what to do what to do...
Well they have reconsidered and much of the first 4 episodes of Season 3 are close to straightforward similar to Season 1, and the episode count dropped. So those who made it to the finale of Season 2 and ended up in a padded locked room someplace muttering 'Fidelity, The Forge, Valley Beyond,...' over and over - give Season 3 a try.
After the Season 2 finale HBO stopped 'Westworld' stuff cold to reconsider, the lower ratings compared to season 1 and that 24% drop concerned them. Normally, a show that has such a poor showing for a season but has a little more promise left would be either kicked in the butt to get it moving again (which results in, e.g. recasting-added cast, changing writers etc...) or cancelled. HBO was on the fence with this one because it had so much potential but it was too expensive to kick in the butt and make major changes. If it continued on the excessively complicated structure path that 24% and lower ratings from Season 2 could turn into 80% and almost no ratings real fast and the show would be dropped. If they kicked it in the butt it means a lot of major changes, a lot of expensive major changes, and it would take longer for Season 3 to appear and in that interim a lot of viewers would have moved on and would not come back. But, the show has a lot of promise too and its possible that 24% and ratings loss could be re-captured. So what to do what to do...
Well they have reconsidered and much of the first 4 episodes of Season 3 are close to straightforward similar to Season 1, and the episode count dropped. So those who made it to the finale of Season 2 and ended up in a padded locked room someplace muttering 'Fidelity, The Forge, Valley Beyond,...' over and over - give Season 3 a try.
Upvote
7
(7
/
0)
"high-concept pretentiousness" is NOT my jam... so S1 was slog for me... however the finale piqued my interest for S2... then I was totally disappointed... S2 killed it for me ...
To the person that asked whether you should go back to watch S2... don't bother... just know that Dolores and Maeve escaped Westworld and are about to wreak havoc on the "real world"
Yeah, there prolly more detail that can be filled in, but maybe some other site will make a 4 min recap video of S2...
To the person that asked whether you should go back to watch S2... don't bother... just know that Dolores and Maeve escaped Westworld and are about to wreak havoc on the "real world"
Yeah, there prolly more detail that can be filled in, but maybe some other site will make a 4 min recap video of S2...
Upvote
3
(3
/
0)
I do not have a high opinion of season 2. I am actually shocked it did not get the series cancelled. If you absolutely had to watch some of it I would only recommend three of them:
S02E01 Journey into Night
S02E04 The Riddle of the Sphinx
S02E10 The Passenger
Then use Wikipedia's episode summaries or detailed summaries to fill in the rest. Or just the summaries without having to watch.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Westworld_(season_2)#Episodes
Upvote
1
(2
/
-1)
I loved season 1, but while I generally like season 2, the jumping around the timeline really made it very confusing. If they do that in season 3, I just will stop watching it. Too many other good shows to watch.
Upvote
2
(2
/
0)
The thing about season 2 that lost my interest the most was watching self aware fancy AIs choose to solve their problems using primitive weapons. All the creation happened off screen and clearly obtained the most powerful results. Everyone accomplishing goals onscreen chose destruction and via inefficient means. It was like all the characters were doing for us the very thing they were rebelling against doing for the guests. The archival AI saying how it turned out that humans are easy to code leaves the little balls on Westworld functional analogs of the little discs on Altered Carbon. In either case, something convincing needs to be demonstrated as to why moving to post scarcity isn't going on, and also why telepresence isn't used for the bodies enacting the largest portion of physical conflict.
Upvote
7
(8
/
-1)
WigglesVonSpiggles
Seniorius Lurkius
I believe this is La Fábrica in Barcelona, converted from an old cement factory by Ricardo Bofill.
https://mymodernmet.com/la-fabrica-ricardo-bofill/
...which, to my shame, I only know from an episode of MTV Cribs, apparently with Paulina Rubio in 2002. It’s amazing what crap your brain can retain, but the place, not the show, must have made quite an impression on me. It looks like a spectacular space.
Upvote
0
(0
/
0)